Page 57 of My Grumpy Billionaire Protector

“He’s not going to get close enough.” Isaiah leans back into the chair and folds his hands together. “If you were the smart businessman youpretendto be, we could be having a very different conversation.”

I curl my hands into fists at my side. “I want nothing to do with any of this. This ends now, Isaiah. Let her and us go, and I’ll convince Evie not to press charges.”

“I knew she would get under your skin. Tight and wild little thing in bed, isn’t she? Who would have thought—?"

Before he can finish the sentence, my fist connects with his jaw. Isaiah’s head twists to the side. When he looks back up at me, he spits out a mouthful of blood. Suddenly, the door to his office bursts open and two armed bodyguards come in and knock me to the ground. I struggle and buck against them, but it’s no use.

Isaiah punches me in the stomach, hard enough to make me double over. “Next time, I won’t be so generous.”

He then turns to his guards. “Get him out of my office.”

EVIE

“Idon’t know what to tell you.” I pause and run my fingers through my hair. “He’s not what I expected.”

“Wasn’t he a dick in high school?”

I speak in hushed tones, careful not to say anything suspicious. Not that it matters much, considering all of my attempts to escape had amounted to nothing. Still, at least I am given a modicum of privacy, with Riley having advocated on my behalf, given my extended stay in the compound.

I’m not exactly a security threat.

I can’t tell if they are trying to make a better case for themselves or if they genuinely don’t care what I say to the outside world. I know for a fact that it is an illusion of privacy. There are cameras everywhere in the room and two guards listening in.

It is a bone laced with poison.

Sienna’s face shifts and moves away from the camera. When she comes back on, I see that she is in my mother’s kitchen with the laptop propped up on the counter and facing the fridge.

“He was.” I sit up straighter and tighten the shawl around my shoulders. “You remember what he did to Alicia?”

“You guys aren’t even friends anymore though,” Sienna points out before disappearing behind the refrigerator door. “And last time we saw her, it was clear she’d moved past it. Why are you bringing this up again?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just trying to figure out if I’m being played or if Shane is the one who was played.”

Sienna moves closer to the laptop, yogurt spilling down the front of her hoodie. “Wait a second. Don’t tell me that youbelievehim.”

I grimace. “I know it’s insane, but a part of me does believe him. I don’t even know why.”

Sienna glances down the front of her hoodie and grimaces. “I’ve known you a long time, E. And it sounds a lot like you’re lying. Plus, I know when you like someone.”

“I mean it,” I maintain, shifting on the chair. “It’s not possible.”

Only it is.

Somehow, I’ve gone from wanting to throw things at him to wanting to jump him, and it is giving me whiplash. It doesn’t help that having sex with Shane is better than anything I could’ve imagined, erotica novels included. Days later, the taste, feel, and smell of him still lingers with me. Every time I close my eyes, I see him hovering over me, hunger written in his eyes, and I can taste him on my mouth.

This morning, when I rolled over in bed, I could’ve sworn I caught a whiff of his cologne, a mixture of sandalwood and sage. For a few moments, I’d even laid there, allowing it to wash over me.

Shit.

This is not happening.

Shane O’Connor is not going to get to me.

I’m not going to let him.

Sienna uses a tissue to dab at the stain. “It actually is. You two are on the same side, at least for now, so it makes sense that you’d bond over that.”

I wave her comment away and hunch forward. “It doesn’t matter. There’s a big difference between being a bad boy in high school and being in league with someone like Isaiah.”

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